Posts Tagged ‘Afghan peace process’

Panic has seized the Indian analysts – mixed with fury and frustration – that the Americans are marching out of Afghanistan. Yet, the fact of the matter is that no such decision has been announced yet by President Trump, who actually has nothing to lose and everything to gain politically by taking credit for any such formal decision, which would be a hugely popular one in the domestic opinion. After all, it will be a double whammy for Trump after Syria to ‘bring the boys home’ from another futile war, which also happens to be the longest war America ever fought in its history. Candidate Trump had repeatedly, emphatically had promised that he’d terminate America’s imperial overstretch.

The Principal Assistant Secretary of State in the US state department’s Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs, Alice Wells gave an extraordinary briefing in Washington on March 5 on the Trump administration’s outlook on the Afghan peace talks and reconciliation. The fact that the briefing was on record is itself of significance, underscoring the cautious optimism that the 4-way contacts and below-the-radar discussions between Washington, Islamabad, Kabul and the Afghan Taliban have gained traction.